IGN: What kind of vibe were you looking for in MC3? And how did you want to make it more distinct, better and stick out from the crowd of other similar import-tuner racing games?

Terry: We wanted the depth and diversity of the gameplay to be matched by the music. Every other "street racing" game seems to be obsessed with a "Fast And The Furious" kind of feel - very one dimensional. Midnight Club 3 brings something completely different to the table, with a huge variety of vehicle classes, an unheard level of customization, open city streets and the involvement of DUB magazine. Some people are into racing muscle cars, while other prefer tuners, yet others are obsessed with SUVs or choppers&#Array; and everyone customizes their rides in different way. There is a wide spectrum of car and bike culture out there, the same goes for music. We wanted to capture that.

IGN: Midnight Club II didn't allow gamers to rip their own soundtracks. Why did Rockstar enable Xbox gamers to rip their own soundtracks for MC3?

Terry: After Midnight Club II came out, we listened to what gamers had to say about it. There were a lot of valid criticisms of the game, and we responded to that. The list of Midnight Club 3's advancements over Midnight Club II is extensive: licensed vehicles, the deepest customization component ever seen in a game, completely revamped graphics, an expansive online component that includes stats, rankings, and clubs, a new more non-linear Career mode, special racing moves specific to vehicle class&#Array; the list goes on and on. We felt that all of these things were crucial to Midnight Club 3 setting a new standard in racing games. We feel the same way about customizing soundtracks for Xbox.

IGN: How do the music selections reflect the music that's being played in the three specific cities, Detroit, San Diego, and Atlanta? Do import-tuner gearheads from the different cities have distinctly different musical tastes?

Terry: The cities definitely affected our musical choices. With Atlanta's huge hip hop influence as well the hip hop and techno coming out of Detroit as well as the rock vibe of southern California, and we thought about theming the cities like that but actually concluded that it was unnecessarily artificial and we wanted the maximum amount of choice available to players available from the beginning of the game. So all tracks are there from the start.

IGN: What parts of the soundtrack are you really proud of and why? What songs or artists really make this particular soundtrack work best?

Why race in the day when women like this show up at night?

Terry: At a truly personal level there is a record in the game called "Stardancer" from Submerge's Red Planet label. It is simply incredible. I have always loved it and I think it is fantastic that we have it in the game. But as a whole I think the soundtrack is really strong across the board. We were brutal with the quality control and I think that really shows through. I hope people like it. We are really proud of it.